29 November, 2025

Air New Zealand veteran spreads her artistic wings

Former international flight attendant Nikki Kelly draws on a world of inspirations in her art, but hints of what is closest to home and heart often emerge spontaneously on her bold canvases.
The long-time Takapuna resident begins with an abstraction of colour. But as she continues, familiar subjects have a way of popping into view. An outline of Rangitoto, a stretch of sea – perhaps with the peaks of sails. It’s not a literal landscape, more a colourful collage of ideas and emotion.
Part of her attraction to painting is that it is a journey of exploration. “I’m not trying to emulate what is out there.”
What was a hobby has developed to the stage Kelly (pictured with two of her works) is holding her first solo show at Satellite2 gallery in Devonport. Previously she has had a few paintings in group shows in Wanaka, where she and her partner Dean Markby spend part of their time.
Kelly says her paintings these days are increasingly peopled with figurative shapes. One called “Group Hug” is an example.
Her works are created at home. When the couple are in Takapuna she sets up in the lounge with a view out to sea.

Her father, Jack Kelly, a former All Black, brought his family to the area when she was 12. He was headmaster at Takapuna Grammar School, and she says: “He didn’t want me there.” So she went to Westlake Girls. Her mother encouraged her to study French rather than art, although taking art history fuelled her creative interest. “I was always envious of people who knew what they wanted to do when they were younger,” she says. “To have [now] found something I want to do is marvellous.”
During her flying days, travel satisfied a lot of her curiosities. She fondly recalls painting in Japan in her downtime. But the job ended after the Covid pandemic struck.
After 33 years at Air New Zealand, Kelly took redundancy. Markby, who had been there for 31 years, did the same. The couple – who started out as friends and flatmates and have been together for 20 years – wanted an active lifestyle by the beach in summer with skiing in Wanaka in winter. They rent out one of their properties when they are having longer spells at the other.
But Takapuna remains Kelly’s anchor after 35 years living in a stylish unit near the beach which she bought “when it was cheap”. After beach walks and the gym, she sets up her acrylic paints and inks. “I’m very lucky to have the time,” she says, adding: “I haven’t been driven to travel since we retired.”
Kelly doesn’t use brushes, favouring rollers, scrapers and sponges. On a background of colour, generally “something shows itself”, she says. She has even created clouds using a squeegee. “I’m really excited to get my paints out and see what happens.”
Often she has three paintings on the go at once. For the Satellite2 show on until 7 December at 61a Victoria Rd, Kelly had to whittle down around 40 works to a dozen.

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